Forever & Always
by HerDreams
Summary: The next happily ever after.


Andrew Darling is portrayed as Kellan Lutz

Clarissa Smith is portrayed as Ashley Greene

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**Chapter One. **

**Setting Sun.**

Summer seems to come and go fast these days. It was already the last week of summer, and I haven't done anything. All my friends have been out of town, probably having way more fun than I myself, or so I hoped they were.

So there I sat, leaning up against one of the white brick posts on the front porch outside my family's house. I should've been working on my summer homework for school, but I was in no mood to do homework. Then again, who on earth wants to do school work on vacation? It's not like I needed the extra work. I am one of the top students at my high school. The teachers should cut me some slack.

I sighed, trying to shove the thought of school out of my mind. "I might as well start my summer sometime, even if it is the last week." I got up from my comfy seat on the floor, adjusted my shirt and pants, and walked over to the garage located on the right side of the house. After opening the garage, I pulled out my slick, black sports bike and hopped on. My helmet was placed securely on my head as I sped off toward town.

I drove down the city road, passing by the library, but soon turned around to park outside the building. "I might as well get some books for my project while I'm here." I sighed, pulling the sleek, black helmet off my head and setting it down inside the compartment that was fixed on the back of my bike.

Before I could even enter through the elegantly carved wooden double doors of the library I was hit by something hard.

"Ah! I'm so sorry..." A soft female voice mumbled close by.

I blinked for a second, regaining my balance against the library's outer brick wall. There in front of me stood a short, pale girl with long dark brown hair, fixing her hair. It wasn't hard to recognize who she was. I've known her my whole life. Her name was Clarissa Smith, aka my best friend. Her English father was John Smith and her Indian mother was Pocahontas.

She smiled as she looked up at my familiar face. "Andrew!" She squeaked with an enthusiastic grinned while throwing her arms around my neck, hugging me. "How've you been?"

I couldn't help but laugh as she practically jumped on me. "Hey you." I wrapped my arms around her small frame, returning the bear hug. "I've been pretty good." I smiled as I put some space between us. I wanted to see at her beautiful face. "How about you?" I raised an eyebrow, curious to know what kind of shenanigans she had been up to.

"Well, I can honestly say that I am soooooo much better now!" she laughed cheerfully, looking up at me with glittering eyes. "But I've been alright I suppose." She added slowly. "Just trying to enjoy the summer as much as possible..." There was no chance that anyone could wipe off the smile that she had printed on her face.

"Yeah, Me too." I nodded with a returning grin. "Although, I haven't really done too much." I pressed my lips together while scrunching my bushy eyebrows together. "I think that needs to change." I nodded, rubbing my thumb and index finger over my smooth chin. "School starts back in a few weeks... I need some excitement." I looked down at her curiously. Clarissa always had a plan when someone needed a change of scenery, and if that wasn't the case? She would always agree to the craziest thing I could come up with.

She smiled brightly, adjusting her bag that was hanging from her narrow shoulder. "Well, what should we do? Because I'm definitely in need of some hang outage." She said with a nod, her brown hair bouncing freely in the wind.

I chuckled softly, enjoying the energy she always seemed to give off. "I like that word." I nodded. "But yeah, we could..." I thought for a moment. What could we possibly do in this enchanted world? "I hear there's a dragon zoo around here somewhere. We could go check that out?" And there goes crazy idea number one. I don't know why I even brought it up. Sure I loved dragons, but the fact that they were located deep inside a dark forest didn't quite sooth me.

"That sounds sweet!" She giggled, "We should totally go!"

Of course she would agree. "Well let's go then Miss Smith!" I took her hand and dragged her over to my shiny, black sports bike.

"Oh!" She grinned, eyeing the familiar looking bike. "Man, it's been forever since I've been on this thing... Actually, it's been forever since I've seen you! Too long actually..." She looked over at me with her big topaz eyes.

"I know..." I sighed, grabbing one of the helmets and handing it to her. "I've felt like a part of me has gone missing." I looked over at her sadly. "Like I was dying inside." I dramatically placed a hand over my heart and gripped my shirt with my fingers, as if I were having a heart attack.

Clarissa put the helmet on and smiled at me. "I know what you mean. I've felt the exact same way." she said, placing her small, warm, hand over mine, letting a few giggles escape from her mouth. I patted my other hand over hers and smiled at her, chuckling softly. "We'll make up for lost time." I nodded, letting go of her hand and reaching over for the other helmet. Clarissa hopped on the bike after I had set myself on it as well. "And I can't wait." She wrapped her arms around my waist, securing herself on the bike.

After a short few minutes on the bike, the two of us arrived at the perimeter of a forest outside of town. "Looks like we're here." I smiled, parking the bike next to a tall tree. I pulled off my helmet and glanced around for a second. "Looks a bit strange, this place... Don't you think?" I asked Clarissa. I watched her glance around.

"I agree. It does look rather strange... But let's explore!" She giggled as she grabbed my hand and pulled me ahead, anxious to see what we'd find.

"You are brave." I grinned, following closely beside her, just incase something decided to attack, I'd be right there to save her. "I think I hear something over there." I pointed over to a dark area on the left. I looked over at her casually and Clarissa grinned as she ventured her way over towards the dark area. Still holding on to my hand, she stopped behind a tree then turned to me. "So, who's going to go first?"

I swallowed hard. I was scared. The dark gave me shivers. Nothing good ever came from the dark... and that's a fact. All the stories my parents have told me had something to do with the dark shadows... and I really didn't want to experience any of it. But didn't want to admit that to a girl. "You can go first." I nodded. "Since you just _had_ to walk over here and investigate." I laughed nervously.

"Awe, are you scared?" She teased me, a grin plastered on her face. "I'm sure it can't be _that_ bad."

I blinked at her as if looking at her like she was out of her mind. "Clarissa... this is a forest of Dragons... Dragons!" I looked down at her for a second before taking my gaze back to the shadows. "How can it not be bad?" I whispered.

"But how do you know all dragons are bad?" she asked with a smile, tilting her head slightly to the left. "Because I don't think they all are."

I sighed. "Well... I guess, if _you_ think so." I stated with pure sarcasm while starring at her, my eyebrows scrunched together. There was a slight pause. "Okay fine." I groaned, rolling my eyes. "I'll go first." I laughed softly and pointed at her with my free hand. "But you're coming with..." I took her hand and pulled her along behind myself as we headed into the dark, shady area, covered with leaves, twigs, bushes, surrounded by tall dark trees.

"Oh, fine." Clarissa laughed, following beside me, a grin plastered on her face the entire time. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen, hum?" she asked, looking up at me.

I tried to look away from her, but I loved her smile. It was the only thing that could always light up any situation. "We could be friend into chicken nuggets?" I stated harshly.

Clarissa just laughed, shaking her head. "Somehow I really doubt that. Besides, you're the man here, you're supposed to protect me..." And how true that was. She was so much smaller than I was, if in any case of danger, she wouldn't have much of a chance surviving on her own in this place.

I cleared my throat and continued to walk. "I am the man, and I will protect you." I said while trying to keep my voice steady. I could hear Clarissa's little spurts of giggles.

She kept her grip on my hand, smiling as usual. "That's what I like to hear."

I rolled my eyes and continued to walk. It didn't comfort me at all to be walking in the dark woods. The dark made so many bad memories fall into my mind.

There was a rustle in the trees, it was moving fast. I stopped abruptly, causing her to stumble into me. Clarissa took a hold of my arm for support. "What was that?" I asked, frozen in place, afraid to look around.

As she straightened up, she glanced around the now darkening woods. "Um. I'm not exactly sure." She murmured.

I could feel her heart begin to race, just as mine had. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. It wouldn't help if we were both going to be scared. "Maybe we should turn around?" I asked quietly as the rustle in the bushes came closer.

"That sounds like an excellent idea!' Clarissa whispered, taking a deep breath and exhaling shortly after, her body still standing very stiff by mine.

"Alright..." I cleared my throat and began to turn around. Suddenly a small nut was thrown to my head. "Ouch!" I looked up as I placed my hand to where the nut at hit my head. "What was that?" I looked around with squinting eyes. The rustling in the bushes got louder and then everything stood silent for a moment.

Clarissa looked around again, still clinging to my side. "I don't exactly know," she said, breathing deep breaths, trying to calm herself. "But I do know that we should probably get out of here... Like now."

I nodded once. "Yeah I agree." I turned around to face her. "Want a piggy back ride? I'm pretty sure I run the both of us out of here faster that way."

Clarissa looked up at me with her big topaz eyes for a moment, as if she were thinking, but with a casual and almost excited tone she replied, "Another excellent idea!" she jumped onto my back as I crouched down, and she wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.

"Hold on tight. Don't want you falling off." I chuckled.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't plan on letting go." She said before I took off running.

After a short while, we were back in the clearing, my bike in sight.

"Finally..." Clarissa let out a breath, still clinging onto me back. "I thought we'd never get out of there!"

I laughed, taking one last glance at the forest. "Maybe the whole dragon zoo was a bad idea?" I grinned, bending over so she was able to get off my back with out falling.

She jumped down, landing on her feet as she chuckled, "Yeah. I think we should find something else to do... Something less," she paused, thinking for a moment. "Dangerous." she laughed, gazing up at me.

"Yes. I agree." I nodded with a friendly smile. "Maybe we should go sit in a field... That contains of no flowers, because flowers attract bees, and that has danger written all over it."

Clarissa's topaz eyes widened. "No flowers?" she gasped, placing her hand over her heart for the dramatic effect. "I love flowers! But I am allergic to bees..." she sighed, glancing towards the ground. "Okay, let's go!" She jerked her gaze back up to mine.

I smiled to myself as I thought about her liking flowers. _I'll have to remember that._ I grinned, looking over at her. "Maybe we'll find a field with a single tree in the center. We could climb that or something?" I suggested.

"Oh!" She smiled, her eyes almost dancing in the sunlight. "I also like climbing trees, but you already knew that!" she said as we started to walk opposite the direction of the dragon zoo and towards the sports bike, ready for the search of a field similar to the one they were hoping to find. "And incase you don't know yet, I don't like dragons." Clarissa laughed, shaking her head.

"Really?" I laughed softly. "I had no idea..." I looked over at her with curious eyes. "The way you marched into that forest like you owned the place... I would've thought you loved dragons." I grinned as I tossed her the helmet again, while setting myself of the bike. I watched Clarissa strap the helmet on, laughing.

"Well I didn't know what I was getting myself into! I wasn't thinking prior to my actions." She wrapped her arms around my waist once she got on the bike. "You know I'm good at that whole 'not thinking before doing stuff' thing."

I revved the engine, "Oh, I know, it's like your secret weapon you like to pull out when something sounds good to your ears." I laughed as I slowly drove away from the forest and down the rocky road, the warm wind hitting against my face. I could feel her shrug again.

"What can I say? It's a big secret weapon for such a small person." Her sweet giggles filled the empty space in my helmet.

"Very true!" I grinned. "So do you know where this field possibly exists in this fairy land?" I looked around as I drove down a country road.

"Honestly? I have no idea." She laughed. I could feel her warm breath against my neck. "But it's got to be around here somewhere. It can't be that far away... I know I've been there before!" She exclaimed, getting excited. "Or I think I've been there before, maybe not."

I smiled behind the helmet. "You know what would be awesome? If we knew a teleporter." I laughed. "That would make things so much easier right now."

She chuckled softly again. "Oh, if only!" Her arms around my waist seemed to tighten just a little. "It would make life easier in general! A teleporter and a mind reader..."

I scrunched my eyebrows together, causing my forehead to wrinkle, as I looked to the side as if she'd be right next to me. "Why would we need a mind reader?" I shifted my eyes to the rearview mirror to see her face. I saw her glance up towards the blue sky, her topaz eyes dancing in the sunlight.

"Oh, I don't know." She shrugged again. "I just think it'd be cool to be able to read minds..." She smiled softly, meeting my gaze in the mirror.

I looked away smiling to stare straight ahead. I spotted a field and drove down another long dirt road to get to our destination tree.

It was quiet for a moment. "So you could read someone's thoughts?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, implying myself in my question.

She stayed quiet the rest of the way. The silence made me wonder what she was thinking right this moment, while we were inched apart from each other, riding down an old country road, all alone. The only thing missing was the beautiful sunset and the happy ending.

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Please Read & Review!!

**Chapter Two Coming soon.**


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